Darksiders Benefiting from Post-Holiday Release Timing, says THQ

THQ's action game Darksiders just released this week for Xbox 360 and PS3, and the game seems to have been received favorably by critics. The game represents one of the publisher's big bets on new IP and is a product of what THQ's EVP of Core Games Danny Bilson would call the "new THQ." When we met with Bilson back at E3, he was genuinely jazzed for Darksiders, and perhaps that excitement is justified, but launching a new IP is no easy task, and it comes with a lot of risk.

When you're dealing with a new property, marketing will be key, especially when you're releasing in the same quarter as notables like Mass Effect 2 and BioShock 2. "To successfully launch new IP, you first need to start with a great game, you need to market it well and you need to launch the game in the best window possible," Bilson told us today. "Our marketing campaign was substantial for Darksiders and included a comprehensive PR campaign, online and TV ad campaigns, and special pre-order promotions.  Our community site for Darksiders generated tremendous traffic and we launched two Facebook apps to generate awareness for the game.  We are continuing to market the game online and our TV campaign is kicking into full gear now."

You wouldn't think that skipping the holidays and competing in a much more crowded Q1 than usual would be "the best window possible," but Bilson said it's all going according to plan and the release timing has been benefiting the game so far. "The release date actually worked to our advantage. It tied to our marketing messaging around the apocalypse happening at the start of the new year. We are the first major AAA release of 2010 and have come out the gates very strong," he said.

Hopefully the first of many high-quality IPs going forward from THQ

Bilson wouldn't comment on sales targets for the title, but THQ is very pleased with the reception for the game so far. "Our focus is to deliver high quality games, market them well and launch them in the best window possible.  We knew we had a great game on our hands but we are pleased to see the average Metacritic rating of 85+, which demonstrates broad support by the gaming community.  We had strong pre-order promotions with retailers, particularly GameStop. The game is generating a lot of buzz on key gaming sites and is ranking as a top selling game on GameStop's website as well as Amazon.com," he noted. 

Bilson admitted that the weak economy could affect a game's launch, but so long as the quality is high, core gamers will still purchase the "AAA" games and he believes Darksiders fits that mold. "Even in good times, launching a successful new IP is a daunting task. In a recessionary economy, new product successes are even harder to achieve. Consumers are looking for even more value for their money. That's why we packed so much content and entertainment value into Darksiders, providing consumers with hours and hours of game play," he stated.

There's been much talk of late about the poor performance of core games on the Wii platform, and Bilson himself talked about how the Wii is a "nightmare" for third parties (comments he later clarified), so we had to ask him about the chances of a game like Darksiders coming to Wii. Naturally, we're not expecting that to ever happen. "Darksiders was specifically built for the Microsoft and Sony HD platforms. The proprietary open-world game engine that the team at Vigil Games has developed for Darksiders demands the most in hi-definition gaming, with very fast frame-rates only achievable on the Microsoft and Sony platforms," Bilson said, adding that the Wii is still a "very strong gaming platform and THQ has numerous games in our present and upcoming portfolio that take advantage of the unique game play mechanic that the Wii platform offers."